stop this train
by questionableatbest
Summary: Caroline's friends have grown up and are living the lives that they always wanted, so she decides that it's the perfect time for her to relive high school and get the senior year that she always wanted. Of course, nothing's ever that easy- especially when she realizes that Klaus has gotten a job as a teacher in order to keep an eye on her.
1. Chapter 1

Caroline's never been a morning person, but she _had_ always loved the first day of school more than anything. It signified a fresh start, and new beginnings, and it was always just so filled with possibility that even having to wake up at 6:30 couldn't bring down her mood.

The only thing that could possibly wipe the smile off her face was the fact that she was technically 68 years old and really had no place in a high school classroom, but she wiped that thought from her mind as soon as it entered.

She looked young, and beautiful, and she was ready to take on the world of high school for a second time- never mind the fact that Bonnie had grandkids, and Matt had just been appointed mayor of Mystic Falls, and Jeremy was teaching history at Mystic Falls High School- she was fine, and she was going back to high school.

She left her apartment at 8, which left her just enough time to pick up coffee and drive herself to her new school.

It was an old building- all brick walls covered in ivy, and long, dark windows, and she had a hard time believing that it was a high school and not a castle, but that disbelief was washed away when she saw her fellow classmates.

Despite how much time had passed, high schoolers really hadn't changed- jeans and yoga pants made up the wardrobe, they traveled in packs, and right away she spotted the girls she was going to be friends with. Grabbing her bag and her coffee, she left the safety of her parked car and headed straight for them.

Ignoring the looks of the other students milling about around her, she plastered her classic, 'Miss Mystic Falls' smile on her face and stopped directly in front of the group of girls that she felt she already knew.

"Hi," she said, not letting their even gazes deter from the smile on her face, "I'm new here- would you mind pointing me in the direction of the office?"

Blank stares ensued, and for a second she thought she had misjudged the girls, but then the red head with kind eyes came alive. "Once you go inside, it's up the stairs and to the left- you can't miss it!"

"Perfect," she said, grateful that they weren't all made of stone, "Thank you so much- I'm Caroline, by the way."

"I'm Raven," the girl introduced herself, before pointing to the blonde on her right, "and this is Amanda," and then the girl on her left, "and this is Cristina. Where'd you move here from?"

"Oh, just a small town in Virginia- though I spent the summer in Los Angeles..." she trailed off, noticing the blonde perk up at that.

"Do you know anybody famous?" Amanda asked with raised eyebrows and a hit of excitement, only frowning slightly when Cristina snorted at the question, which Caroline chose to ignore.

"Oh no," she shook her head, before pausing for a moment and then elaborating, "Most of the famous people like to keep to themselves- though Jennifer Lawrence does have a place down the street from me..."

"Wow," Amanda gasped, "That is _so_ cool!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my _mom_ watches those movies she used to be in," Cristina joined in, delivering the backhanded compliment in a way that almost made Caroline proud. There was a time, a long time ago, when she would have said the exact same thing, and then made fun of the new girl behind her back. She liked to think she was different now.

"Yeah, I guess she has gotten kind of old," Caroline agreed with a laugh, before changing the subject, "Anyways, I need to pick up my schedule before class, but I'll see you guys around!"

Throwing one last smile over her shoulder, she let out the breath that she'd been holding throughout that whole conversation and, in her slightly dazed state, almost walked right into a man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Well hello love, fancy seeing you here."

"What. Are you doing here?" Caroline demanded, looking around at the other students, all ignorant to what was happening, before she closed the space between them and snapped, "Are you crazy?"

"Come now, Caroline," Klaus drawled out, his accent as thick as ever, as a smirk took over his face, "That's no way to greet an old friend."

"We were never friends," she said, doing her best to keep her voice down, despite her rising anger. "From what I remember, you spent most of your time trying to kill my real friends."

"Well I suppose that's one way you could see it," he admitted, looking thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged it off. "But bygones are bygones after all- it's all in the past now."

"No, it is most certainly not," Caroline said, her voice harsh and disbelieving as she stared at the man in front of her. He looked exactly the same as he had the last time she'd seem him, some 50 years ago, except for something that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Regardless of that, love, you'll have to put those feelings behind you," he said evenly, the flicker in his eye warning her that he had more to say, "After all, you'll be needing to treat me with more respect if I'm to be your teacher."

"My-" she cut herself off this time, looking anywhere but at the infuriating man in front of her as his words sunk in and a wave of dread settled over her. "What do you think you're _doing_? Are you even _qualified_ to be a teacher?"

"Of course not," he brushed past her first question as if it didn't matter, "I had to compel a few… hundred people or so, but I'll be teaching art- how hard can that be?"

"Klaus."

"That's Mr. Mikaelson to you know, love," he corrected her, far to amused by everything that he had orchestrated.

"How did you find me?" she finally asked, settling on a straight forward question that he couldn't possibly avoid answering.

"You really thought I wasn't keeping an eye on you?" he responded with a raised eyebrow and a tilted head, "I've got people everywhere, love."

"So why are you here now?" she demanded, her anger falling away and leaving her more tired than she had realized she was.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Klaus, what does that even mean?"

He paused at that, before taking a step closer to her and looking her directly in the eye. " _It means_ ," he said slowly, a hint of anger entering his voice for the first time in their conversation, "That I know what you're doing. You're friends are moving on, and you're stuck at 17 forever, and you're acting on that. _It means_ that you've got the world at your feet, and you've found another insignificant, small town to hide away in. _It means_ that you're all alone, and I'm not going to let you self-destruct like this. _Somebody's_ got to look out for you, for god sake."

Her eyes widened, and her jaw had dropped, and she took a step back, but did not give him the satisfaction of a response.

They stood there for a few long moments, before the tension was broken by the shrill ring of the bell, and she snapped out of whatever trance his speech had put her in.

Without another word, she spun on her heel and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Of. Course. She was in Klaus' art class.

And _of course_ it was her homeroom.

She'd 'transferred' to the school too close to the start of the semester to get a say in the courses she'd be taking, so she was stuck with art, and then history, math, and gym. She had considered compelling the secretary into changing her schedule, but that would just show Klaus that his presence was affecting her, and she couldn't have that.

Despite every ounce of her being screaming at her to run, she also wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

She was 68 years old. She wasn't the girl she used to be, but she still wasn't afraid of standing up to the original. She could handle him.

At least, that's what she told herself as she took a deep breath and opened the art room door, walking into the class 15 minutes late and interrupting whatever Klaus had been saying, and feeling every set of eyes in the room turn to her.

"Hi," she said, with a small wave to the class, doing her best to play the role of the new student who had never met the teacher in her life, and definitely hadn't spent the majority of her early years helping her friends plot to kill him, "I'm new here-"

"As am I," he interrupted her, a neutral expression taking over his face as he raised an eyebrow, "But I'm not late."

"I had to get my schedule from the office- I-" she explained, the smile falling from her face as she realized how much he was likely enjoying the power that his position gave him.

"You interrupted my class," he said, harsher than she'd expected, "But never mind that- find a seat. Quickly."

She couldn't help but scoff at that, and if they'd been alone in the room she probably would march over to where he was leaning against his desk at the front of the room and slap him, but there were 20 or so teenagers watching them, and she was supposed to be just like those teenagers. Rolling her eyes as she turned her back on him, she saw Raven sitting at a table near the middle of the class with an empty seat beside her, so she walked over and sat there, smiling at the girl in the process.

Despite his lack of qualifications, Caroline was surprised to see that Klaus actually knew what he was doing- he was in the process of explaining a series of projects that they'd be doing over the course of the semester, and it all sounded well planned out.

Not that it mattered, or anything, because she was planning on running him out of town as soon as possible. But still, it was strange to see the ancient vampire so at home in the classroom, and caring about something other than killing for once.

Thankfully, that trail of thought was interrupted by Raven, leaning over and whispering, "He's an ass," under her breath, nodding her head towards the teacher when Caroline raised an eyebrow.

"You can say that again," Caroline agreed gratefully, glad to know that she wasn't the only one who thought so, and that it seemed she really had made a friend. "Somebody definitely needs to pull the stick out of his ass."

Raven let out a snort at that, and Caroline couldn't help the smug smile that grew on her face, which would have been fine if they hadn't drawn the attention of Klaus and the rest of the class.

"Is something amusing you, Ms. Forbes?" he asked, drawing out her name as if he had all the time in the world.

"Oh no, _sir_ ," she shook her head, emphasizing the 'sir' but not trying to hide just how fake her sincerity was, "Nothing at all."

"Well then I'm sure you'll have no problem seeing me after class for detention," he said and, while his words came across as grave, she could hear the amused undertones that they held.

That one stunned her for a second, because really, who did he think he was?

But before she got a chance to think up a response, he'd turned his attention away from her and back to the class, and she was left to fume for the rest of the lesson.

When the bell rang to signal the end of class, everybody got up to leave except for Caroline.

"I'll see you at lunch," Raven said in place of goodbye, sending a sympathetic smile over her shoulder as she rushed out of the room, to wherever her next class was.

For her part, Caroline smiled briefly in response to that, and then let it fall from her face, not bothering to hide her annoyance and built up rage that was simmering just beneath her composed surface.

Klaus was standing by the door, watching the students leave, and it was only when the door swung shut on the last student that he turned around to face Caroline, a smirk taking over his previously professional expression.

"Didn't I say you'd have to start treating me with respect, love?" he asked, his voice smooth and lower than it had been during his lesson, as he took long, leisurely steps towards the table she was sitting at.

"Go to hell," she snapped back, standing up just as he came to a stop in front of her, and then quickly taking a step back to put some room in between them.

"Gladly, but only if you'll join me there," he said lightly, but it sounded much more like a promise than she was comfortable with.

"You're an ass," she replied, repeating Raven's words from earlier, but with much more conviction than the other girl had held, because conviction is something that comes with time, and Raven hadn't been around nearly long enough to possess anything close to the amount of hatred that was inside of Caroline.

Of course Klaus caught onto that. "That's what your little friend said earlier, isn't it?" he read her mind, the corner of his mouth tilting up as he continued to read her expression, despite how hard she tried to keep it neutral, "You know, she does remind me an awful lot of that doppelganger you used to be so fond of- speaking of which, how is Elena these days?"

"Don't," Caroline hissed, taking a step forward, not sure if she wanted to strangle Klaus, or yell at him and then strangle him, "Don't you dare talk about her, or any of my friends. You have _no_ right to."

"Well that's why you're here, isn't it?" he continued, not backing down and not heeding her warning, which didn't surprise her at all. "You're trying to replace your friends. And I'm here to tell you that _it won't work_."

"You don't know anything about me, Klaus," she said, anger seeping through as she looked him in the eye, their faces inches apart, "So stop pretending that you do and leave. Me. Alone."

"Not a chance in hell, sweetheart," he whispered, before he turned his back on her and walked towards his desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got another class to prepare for."

"You what?" she demanded, only slightly confused by the dismissal followed by the rapid change of topic.

"I've got another class to teach, and I assume you've got another class to attend- you best hurry up if you don't want to be late," he said, and somehow the only thing that echoed in his voice was kindness, which was new.

But that didn't change anything.

"This isn't over," she declared, before grabbing her bag from the table beside her and walking out the door, ignoring the 'I wouldn't expect anything less,' that she could have sworn he'd whispered under his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

The school day was barely half way over, and Caroline was exhausted.

Her second class had gone better than the first, but she'd forgotten how tiring it was to sit in a classroom and actively listen to what was going on, and of course, there was the Klaus Problem.

She told herself that she wasn't going to think about it, and that she wasn't going to let him get inside her head, but there was a small part of her that worried he already had, and they'd only been reconnected for a couple of hours.

So yeah, Klaus was a problem, but she could handle it.

And high school was more difficult that she'd remembered, and she wasn't sure she liked being the new girl, but she could handle that to.

Of course, when she walked into the lunch room and saw that, just like at her old school, everybody had paired off and were sitting with their obvious cliques, she couldn't help but panic, because she didn't actually have a clique.

She was about to turn around and run in the opposite direction, and leave Klaus and the school and her new life behind, but before she could do that she saw Raven, Cristina, and a few other people sitting at a table off to the side, and she remembered the girls invitation from earlier that day.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline squared her shoulders, raised her chin, and headed towards them.

She could do this.

She stopped when she got to the table, a huge smile on her face when she said, "Hey, mind if I sit here?"

"Of course not," Raven said, reaching over to move a water bottle and making room for Caroline to sit down. "Guys, this is Caroline," she then introduced her to the strangers sitting at the table, "And this is Eric, and this is Matt."

She'd nodded her head and smiled at Eric, but she froze when Matt was introduced. He had deep eyes and blonde hair, and that's about where the similarities between him and her Matt ended, but that didn't make the connection any easier.

She realized she was staring when Eric, the one with dark hair and broad shoulders interrupted, "You okay? You look like you're seeing a ghost or something…" trailing off as he raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely concerned.

"Oh, yeah," Caroline laughed, shaking her head slightly and looking down at the table, before back up at the group of curious students, "I just used to know a Matt, is all- you kind of reminded me of him," she explained with a small smile and a shrug.

"Mmm," Eric nodded his head knowingly, "Sounds like an ex-boyfriend."

"Eric," Raven gasped, grabbing a book and swatting his arm with it, while Matt turned a bright shade of red and Cristina looked on with raised eyebrows and pursed lips, "Ignore him."

For her part, Caroline let out a small laugh, and couldn't help but smile at the scene she was taking part in, because it almost made her feel like a normal teenager, and she was okay with that.

And then Cristina opened her mouth. "I've bet you've got a long string of those left behind you, right?" she asked, keeping her tone pleasant so that the harsh words sounded passive, at best, "Ex-boyfriends, I mean."

Caroline had about a million insults brimming inside of her, but she plastered a smile on her face and kept her tone sweet as she said, "No, not really," because, despite the anger she felt towards Cristina, she understood where the girl was coming from, and if the old Caroline had been in her place, she would have said the exact same thing.

"You said you're from Virginia, right?" Raven jumped in, breaking the tense silence that had grown, waiting for Caroling to nod her head in response before she continued, "So why'd you move here?"

"My parents split up a while ago, and they decided that I need to spend more quality time with my dad, so here I am!" she explained, reciting the story that she'd come up with the second she decided to enroll herself at the school.

"Ahhhh, the good old fashioned divorce story- we know it well," Eric said, with a sympathetic smile that matched the ones on everybody else's faces.

"Unless the 'good old fashioned divorce story' involves everybody's dads realizing that they're gay and running of with their boyfriends, then I'd say otherwise," Caroline quipped, not being able to hold back a small laugh at the surprised looks she received; for her, time had healed some wounds.

"Damn, you win this round, new girl," Eric admitted, with a tilt of his head that had Caroline giggling all over again.

"But really, does anybody _want_ to win that contest?" Cristina asked, not even trying to hide her hostility anymore.

"Come on C," Matt jumped in at that, bumping the girl with his elbow, "We're the ones who should be jealous of you- your parents are so in love it's almost disgusting."

Cristina rolled her eyes at that, but it didn't keep Caroline from catching the small smile that she tried to hide, before she said, "Speaking of my loving parents, they'll be out of town this weekend, which means we need to have a party."

"Do we?" Raven asked, with her lips pursed together, obviously trying to keep from smiling.

"Of course we do," Cristina insisted, "It's the first week of our senior year, and every perfect year starts off with a party, and besides, Amanda and I have already started planning it!"

"Of course you have," Raven said, rolling her eyes but sending her friend a smile that Caroline recognized well.

Watching the girls interact sent a wave of nostalgia rushing through her. They were good friends, and it was clear that they'd known each other forever, and Caroline missed that kind of friendship. Unfortunately, one of her friends had grandchildren, and the other was stuck in a tomb for an undetermined amount of time, and the days that her and Bonnie and Elena had spent throwing parties and planning dances and getting into trouble were over, and suddenly that fact was hitting her harder than ever.

"Hey," Caroline interrupted what they were saying, "I just remembered, I still have some registration stuff to handle in the office- I'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah," Raven said, sounding a little bit surprised by the interruption, "Here- give me your phone."

Caroline complied, and watched as the other girl typed her own number in and sent herself a smiley face. "There! I'll text you and we can all hang out!"

"That'd be great," Caroline smiled, relieved that her abrupt exit wasn't damaging whatever friendship they were forming, "It was nice meeting you all."

She couldn't go home, and she didn't want to be the girl that sat in her car all the time, and she was really craving something more than the apple that she'd ate for lunch. The blood bag in her school bag was suddenly all she could focus on, so she started peering into classrooms as she walked down the hall, but she knew that, realistically, there was only one room in the school that she would be safe to feed in.

She got to the art room in record time and pushed through the door for the second time that day, only to find that she wasn't the only one who'd thought about feeding.

Klaus was there, leaning against his desk, with his arms wrapped around the secretary that Caroline had talked to earlier that day, and his face buried in her neck.

She stared for a few seconds and, while she knew that he knew she was there, he didn't acknowledge her presence until she'd cleared her throat a few times, before she finally lost patience and knocked on the door she was still standing beside.

When he looked up there was blood dripping from his chin, and his eyes were bright red, and a devilish smile played at the corner of his mouth. "Caroline darling, would you care for a drink?" he asked, making a show of standing up fully and bringing the dazed woman with him.

"What. Do you think you're doing?" she snapped, shaking her head and letting her anger wash over her as she marched towards him, stopping in front of him and grabbing the secretaries arm to pull the woman towards her. Upon closer examination, Caroline could tell that no serious harm had been done, so she grabbed a scarf from her bag, wrapped it around the woman's neck, and then looked her in the eye and concentrated. "You won't remember any of this. Nothing happened. And you're not interested in Mr. Mikaelson. Leave."

"Right," the woman agreed, clearly still confused, but she walked out of the room with little hesitation, and then Caroline was left alone with Klaus.

"Jealous, love?" he asked, his eyes tracing up and down her body with a pleased expression covering the rest of his face.

" _Ew_ , what?" she demanded, scrunching up her nose to show her disgust at the thought of that.

"You just told that woman not to be interested in me," he explained easily, his voice drawling out the words as he took a step closer to her and shrugged briefly, "Those sound an awful lot like the words of a jealous girlfriend."

"Oh my god, NO," Caroline protested, her eyes rolling up to the heavens as she tried to calm down enough to deal with Klaus and his infuriating ego. "I told her to leave you alone because you can't feed on the staff, for god's sake."

"I thought you'd be pleased about that," he said, tilting his head to the side before he continued, "Seeing as how my other option is to feed on the _students_ …"

"You're just going to ignore option C?" she asked, hands now resting on her hips as she stared at him in what could only be described as disdain, "Use a blood bag like the rest of us."

She didn't wait for a response from him. Blood still lingered in the air and, combined with Klaus' clear indiscretion, she was on edge and she needed to feed, so she spun around and found herself a seat in the middle of the room, before she pulled out her blood bag, ripped the top open, and started drinking from it.

"I see you're still taking the morally high road then," Klaus commented, though he clearly wasn't surprised.

"I do what I can," Caroline shrugged, wiping a hand across her mouth as she took a break from the drink, already feeling better.

"And you've come to join me for lunch," he smirked, taking a few lazy steps across the room before he dropped into a seat a few chairs away from her. "I'm honored."

"Don't be," she said shortly, not bothering to beat around the bush. "Drinking in the bathroom is gross, and this is the only other place in the school where I won't get caught."

In way of a response he shrugged at that, so Caroline continued without a moment's hesitation. "Speaking of which," she said, waiting until he was looking her in the eye before she started here tirade, "If you _are_ going to feed on the staff- and I'm not saying that that's okay- but if you are, could you at least lock your door? Somebody could have easily walked in on you, and then what?"

"Come on love, live a little," he said, altogether way to casual about the whole thing, "It's nothing that a little compulsion can't fix."

She sighed at that, and took another long sip from her blood bag, and when she looked back up he was staring at her with a curious expression on his face. "What?" she demanded, wanting nothing more than for him to stop staring.

"Nothing, love," he shook his head, though his gaze didn't waver and before she knew what he was doing he leaned forward, reaching a hand out across the table and bringing it up to the corner of her mouth. The touch was brief but the feeling of his finger lingered, and then he was bringing his hand towards his own mouth, putting the finger in his mouth and sucking off the drop of blood. "I just don't understand how you drink that stuff when you're surrounded by so much fresh-"

"Stop," she interrupted him, the words breaking her out of whatever trance his touch had put her in.

"Alright, alright," he acknowledged her anger, "I won't comment on your eating habits if you don't comment on mine."

She was about to open her mouth to respond, but he didn't give her the chance. "But you won't do that, will you?" he asked, an eyebrow raised as he all but read Caroline's mind. "You just can't help it; wherever you go, you make people better. You try to fix people. If you still believe there's something in me to save, that is."

"Klaus," she started again, looking anywhere but at him and trying to escape the sheer intensity of his gaze, surprising herself when she spoke again. "I thought you were here to save me. Not the other way around."

She could tell the minute that she spoke those words that something changed in him. It was like a barrier had fallen away, and suddenly he just looked tired.

"You don't need saving Caroline- you never have," he said, his voice gentler than she'd realized it could be, "You just need a little help. There's a difference, love."

"And you're going to be the one to do it?" she asked, laughing a bit at the sheer ridiculousness of the words.

Of course, he was Klaus, and he had to take the laugh the wrong way. He pulled back in his chair and sat up straight, and when she looked at him again, his face was back to the usual scowl made up of harsh lines and unforgiving angles.

"Well, I don't see anybody else lining up outside your door, so what choice do I have?" he snapped, and just like that, he was back to the man she remembered.

If she had a sore spot, it was the friends that she'd had to leave behind, and Klaus knew that, and he'd used it against her, and it worked.

"Fuck you," she spat at him, standing up from her chair and pushing past where he was seated, trying to get out of the room as fast as possible.

"I look forward to it, darling," he called after her, his voice dripping with his trademark malice, and making one thing very clear to Caroline; she hated him.

* * *

AN- Hi! Okay I'd just like to say (1) thank you so much for the lovely comments, and that I have no idea how to respond to them, but I'm working on it and (2) I hope y'all are enjoying this story! Again, it's the first thing I've written for this fandom, and I'm really enjoying it, and I hope I'm doing a good job with the characters! Also (3) I know the first day of school is kind of dragging on, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter being longer, and I'll try to update soon! ALSO (4) I mentioned that jealous!Klaus would be in this chapter and I'd planned that, but then my writing got kind of off course and this happened, but rest assured, jealous!Klaus is coming up, because it's pretty much what I live for and, as with all fanfic, there's got to be a lot of angst before these two dorks live happily ever after!

(ALSO come visit me on tumblr if you want? My URL is ' .com'!) :)


	4. Chapter 4

The second day of school was by far better than the first, and things genuinely seemed to get better as the week went on.

Having Raven in Caroline's first class made dealing with Klaus almost bearable, and she had to admit to herself that seeing the thousand year old vampire dealing with the politics of a high school classroom was more than a little bit amusing. In addition to that, Matt was in her math class, and Eric in her gym class, and the two boys stuck by her side through them. They were nice, and funny, and easy to be around, which was refreshing, especially after her lunch time rendezvous' with Klaus.

She hated him, but that didn't change the fact that she needed to drink blood to survive, and his classroom was a marginally better option than a bath room stall.

She'd spent her art class on the second day of school ignoring him altogether, while still playing the role of the perfect student. She couldn't help but note the look of surprise on his face when she'd stormed into the room at lunch that day.

"Don't say anything," she'd snapped, her lips pursed together and her gaze so hard it practically bore holes through his head.

"Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart," he'd replied, watching her evenly as she threw her bag on a table and started in on the blood bag. He stared at her for a few seconds after that, until it became apparent that neither of them were going to speak, and he went back to whatever it was he'd been working on.

That went on for a few more days before Friday rolled around and Caroline finally snapped. "Okay, what gives?" she demanded, after she'd drained half of the blood bag and he had barely acknowledged her presence.

"What was that, love?" he asked, looking up from his painting, as if he were surprised to see her there.

"You haven't been feeding," she said, and she knew it was true. With the exception of the first day, when she'd stormed into his classroom and yelled at him for drinking from the poor secretary, he'd been alone in his class whenever she entered.

"And?" he prompted, a raised eyebrow, as if everything was perfectly normal.

"And you always feed, so what gives?" she repeated her first question, frustrated that he was making the conversation way more difficult than it had to be. "And what are you doing, just sitting there?"

"You asked me not to feed on the staff, love," he explained, as if he'd ever listened to her before, "And your argument was compelling, so I'm not feeding on the staff. I'm drawing; as it turns out, having access and reason to do so is one of the benefits of being an art teacher."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at that. "Okay," she finally said, drawing out the word as she examined his face, trying to see past the apparent sincerity.

"Don't be so skeptical, Caroline," he admonished after a few seconds of her scrutinizing gaze, "I've been known to be reasonable in the past."

At that, she actually snorted. "Have you?" she pressed, not being able to his the upward tilt of the corners of her mouth when he actually looked offended.

"I'd certainly like to think so," he defended himself with a playful glint in his eyes, "After all, you don't live as long as I have without making a few compromises."

"And here I was thinking you just killed everybody who got in your way," she shot back, only a hint of malice in her voice, most of which was covered by the overly sweet smile that she punctuated the sentence with.

"Well then, love, you've still got a lot to learn about me," he smirked, his voice dipping slightly lower than usual, for some reason causing a small blush to creep up Caroline's cheeks. "But we've got an eternity for that, I suppose."

"That's pretty presumptuous of you," Caroline quipped, shaking off whatever feelings she'd been having, and raising her eyebrows at the promise he'd just made. "What makes you think I want to spend an eternity with you?"

"Well I know you don't want to yet, but give it time love," he said simply, his words and trademark smirk oozing confidence that was infuriating, but more attractive than Caroline liked to admit.

"Please," she rolled her eyes, doing everything she could to sound unaffected, "The only thing spending time with you does to me is make me want to kill you."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart," he continued smirking, though she noticed a soft edge in his eyes that was disconcerting.

His childish comeback left her at a loss for words, and the air in the room seemed heavier, and Caroline decided that it was as good a time as ever to bring the conversation to an end.

"Whatever," she muttered to herself, turning half way around in her chair so that they were no longer facing each other. She turned most of her attention back to the blood bag that she'd almost forgotten about, and pulled out her phone to give herself something to do while she was finishing it.

To her surprise, she had a few texts waiting for her. Before starting school, it'd been a long time since she'd been close enough to anybody for them to text her frequently, except for the occasional message she got from Bonnie and Matt checking up on her.

However, like most of the teenagers she'd known in her time, none of the friends she'd made at school were shy about texting, and they tended to send the messages pretty liberally, about trivial topics. It could be annoying, but it was nice to know that people were thinking about her again.

 **12:47- Eric** : _How's tutoring going?_

She smiled at that one- her friends had quickly become curious about where she disappeared to every lunch, so she told them that her old school wasn't up to calibre with the new one, and that she had to attend daily tutoring sessions at lunch. They'd accepted the explanation, but Eric still spent most of his spare time making fun of her for needing the extra help, and then proceeding to try and convince her to skip the sessions. It was all good natured teasing, and she enjoyed it more than she'd want to let on.

She quickly typed out ' _kill me_ ,' as a response, chose an acceptable emoji, and went to see who else she had messages from.

 **12:50- Raven:** _Wanna get ready for the party at my place tonight?_

The group had been talking about the party ever since it had been announced a few days ago and, from what Caroline could tell, it was going to be legendary. She still wasn't entirely on Cristina's good side, but she'd watched the girl plan out decorations, her outfit, and the drink selection, and a few well placed (and well deserved) compliments had taken her a long way.

She was about to type, ' _I'd love to!_ ' as a response, when Klaus interrupted her.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked, surprising Caroline with how interested he actually sounded, because normally he did a better job at hiding any form of human emotion.

"Nothing," she shrugged, but when she looked up at him and saw a raised eyebrow and a look that told her he wasn't giving up she rolled her eyes and explained, "I'm making plans to go to a party tonight."

She wasn't sure what response that'd get from him. Anger, maybe. Hostility, almost certainly. Instead, he threw his head back and let out a barking fit of laughter that was so surprising she almost jumped.

After a few moments of watching his display of amusement, Caroling found herself completely fed up with him. "What?" she finally demanded, discarding the now-empty blood bag in the desk beside her, and crossing her arms over her chest. "Klaus. What. Is so funny?"

"You're right, you're right," he shook his head after a few seconds, his laughter stopping, but the same shit-eating grin still covering his face, "It's not funny- it's rather impressive, really."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, more than tired of his antics.

"You're really going the whole nine yards with this 'return to high school' thing," is all he said at first, the grin falling away from his face, though his eyebrows stayed raised as he took in her obvious anger, "You're in with the cool kids, you're partying, I suspect you'll join the cheerleading squad- what next? Are you going to find yourself a boyfriend as well? The quarterback, maybe?"

She knew what he expected, and she wasn't going to give it to him. He thought she was going to get angry, and probably yell a bit, but she moved right past that phase, into one that left her calm, and collected, and ready to tear him apart.

"Isn't that the same speech you've been giving me all week?" she asked, sounding almost bored, despite what she was actually feeling. "Isn't it getting a bit tired to you?"

"On the contrary, love," he said, apparently taking a que from her and not letting any real anger show. There was a warning hidden beneath his words, but that was something she'd grown used to. "I'm willing to repeat it as many times as it takes for you to listen."

"Well then you're going to be repeating it for a very long time," she said evenly, though she couldn't hold herself back from what she said next. "But you should know, jealousy doesn't look very good on you."

His eyes widened briefly, but he didn't make a move to say anything else, so Caroline stood, grabbed her bag, and made to leave, but the second she actually turned to walk out the room, she felt the air around her moving, and suddenly Klaus was standing directly in front of her, with only a few inches between their faces.

"First of all, everything looks good on me," he said, his voice low and quiet, and the breath he expelled brushing across her cheeks.

His pause gave Caroline just enough time to clear her head and ask, "And second of all?" pretending all the while that her cheeks weren't burning red, or that her voice sounded shaky and out of breath.

A smile grew on his face at that, and she felt the breath he let out before he said, "And second of all, you're going to get bored of those children eventually," a fire burning in his eyes, and something deeper existing in his voice, "And when you do, you know where to find me."

She bit her lip at that, momentarily letting her eyes trail over the lines of his face and landing on his lips, before they flashed back up to his eyes, which held a level of intensity that she'd never seen before.

It clouded her mind, and her knees felt weak, but she found it in her to let out a huff of air, tilt her head to the side, and push around him, walking out of the room without another word.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Also, from now on you can probably expect a few days in between updates, but I'll try my best to get a new chapter up every week, and I'll try to make them longer than this one!**

 **ALSO if anybody was wondering, I named this story after a song by John Mayer called 'Stop This Train,' so you should check it out!**


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